The first few months of each new year are highly intense for accounting professionals as clients, meetings and deadlines abound. Here are the top three vices accountants and bookkeepers turn to in order to make it through tax season:

It's not a kitchen, it's a closet for dishes
Burger wrappers litter the floor. Fry crumbs are all over the desk. When you get home, you don't reach for a pan and spices - you pull out a bag of fast food. It's understandable - tax season doesn't leave a lot of time for home cooking. Still, making one's own meals is incredibly satisfying. Every accountant or bookkeeper in the throes of tax season should spend one night each week unleashing his or her inner Anthony Bourdain - or Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsay or even Guy Fieri. Don't worry if you're afraid of messing up. Just remember the words of Julia Child: "With enough butter, anything is good."

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!
You may not be the title character of the "Cathy" comics, but chances are you've enjoyed a nice bonbon or two. After all, few things are more enjoyable than the smooth combination of cocoa, milk and sugar. Chocolate is a common treat after a long ordeal, so considering the daily stresses of tax season, it's not unfathomable to picture an accountant or bookkeeper pulling up to the nearest Ghirardelli every night.

Dark chocolate, in particular, is one of the most divisive foods around. Some see it as the pinnacle of confections, a signifier of high taste and an expensive appetite. Others find it bitter and pretentious, preferring the sweet, simple nature of milk chocolate. When it comes to health, however, more cocoa and less milk is better. According to a study cited by Health.com, eating 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate each day for two weeks reduces stress hormones. In the name of reducing stress a bit quicker, milk chocolate lovers might need to bite the bullet and mix in a little dark chocolate now and then.

What do you mean, I've had too much caffeine?
Pull a consistent number of early mornings and late nights, and you may wonder if it's possible to substitute your blood for coffee. That toe-tapping at your desk? That's not a symptom of overcaffeination - you're just ready to dance.

Joking aside, too much coffee can make you jittery rather than jitterbug. Still, the brewed beverage has it's benefits. It might prevent diabetes, said Frank Hu, nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He told WebMD of his 2005 findings where people who drank more than six or seven cups of joe each day were 35 percent less likely to have type 2 diabetes than those who drank fewer than two cups.

Food, chocolate, caffeine . . . whatever it is you need to make it through tax season, we're not here to judge, we're here to help you along the way. Contact Sage to help you conquer your workload without the stress.